During the heat of late summer, the Buddhist festival of Obon celebrates the return of the spirits of the dead to Earth. They wander through their ancestral villages offering prayers to homes and businesses they pass. This ritual has evolved into bon odori, a festival dance that marks the end of summer all over Japan.

The dancers wear colorful cotton after-bath kimonos called yukata with sandals and a fan. Music is played from the yagura, or elevated stage and today may be electronic, but there is always a taiko drum to set the beat.

Saturday and Sunday
5:30 p.m.  |  Yagura stage